WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 SPORTS

KUWAIT: Kuwait handicapped basketball team defeated Italy’s Torino team by three points, following an exciting match that was held yesterday, as competition of the third international forum began. The match was held in the pres- ence of Forum President, Shafi Al-Hajiri and a large number of officials. Kuwait’s team was led by coach Hussam Abbas and assistant Ahmad Al-Shatti. Players Nizar Ramadhan, Hamad Al-Adwani, Yousuf Khalaf, Ahmad Naqa, Fahad Nabi, Al-Failakawi, Mohammad Al-Ghareeb, Mohammad Al-Shimmari and Essa Al-Fadhly were all outstanding during the match. The match ended with the score of 51-48. Balotelli returns to Italian fray

MILAN: Mario Balotelli’s return to the Italy Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, a game in fray was met with mixed reviews as the which Balotelli was conspicuously under misfiring Liverpool striker prepares to end par. Several weeks ago he was pilloried by his enforced exile with a potential appear- fans and the unforgiving British tabloids ance against Euro 2016 opponents Croatia after he swapped shirts with Real Madrid next week. Balotelli has not played for Italy player Pepe as they walked off at half-time. since their first-round exit from the World Liverpool lost 3-0 and Balotelli was Cup in Brazil and until his call-up on replaced at half-time. Sunday was left on the sidelines by new While Liverpool manager Brendan Italy coach Antonio Conte for their first Rodgers said he would “deal with the inci- three Group H qualifiers. dent internally”, former Reds great Jamie The 24-year-old striker is no stranger to Carragher hit out: “I’d be surprised to see controversy, having spent two and a half him here next season if I’m being honest.” well-documented years in the English Asked by Rai Sport on Monday for his opin- with Manchester City, ion on Balotelli, former Ajax and Barcelona where he missed 11 domestic games after hero Johan Cruyff said: “It’s a problem of taking the club to a tribunal following their education, if he had been educated well he decision to fine him two weeks’ wages for would not be like he is now.” Few commen- his poor disciplinary record. tators got behind Balotelli, although in After returning to Italy in January 2013 Tuttomercatoweb.com former Milan and for an ill-fated 18-month spell with AC Rangers striker Mark Hateley called for Milan, Balotelli signed for Liverpool in the Liverpool fans to show patience. summer but has been pilloried since hav- “Conte was right to call him up because ing failed to spark and, worse, failed to at international level you get the best out score in the league. Conte’s decision has of Balotelli,” said Hateley. “Mario is suffering left more than a few observers scratching from the fact he is being compared to Luis their heads in wonder. “Balotelli was only Suarez and I think that’s wrong. Suarez called up by Italy because of the injury suf- scored a lot of goals and was driving force fered by Lorenzo Insigne,” claimed behind Liverpool and you can’t replace guy Francesco De Luca, chief editor of Il Mattino like that. newspaper, on the football talk show Il “Of course, he (Balotelli) isn’t scoring, Processo di Lunedi. Another guest on the he’s not playing well. But Liverpool are not show, former Inter player Evaristo playing well and it’s not easy for Balotelli. Beccalossi, gave an equally unflattering “He’s lacking confidence and maybe this appraisal of Balotelli, who played for the call-up will be the spark that gets him GREECE: Tottenham Hotspur’s Jan Vertonghen controls the ball in this file photo. —AFP Nerazzurri before his move to City. going again.” Conte, meanwhile, said he “We’ve always said that Mario’s presence has not taken Balotelli’s Liverpool woes into should depend on how he is playing, but consideration. “Personally, I don’t pay atten- Tottenham Spurs seeking to it’s evident that at Liverpool he’s not per- tion to what’s being said about his club sit- forming well,” said Beccalossi. uation,” Conte said Monday when the Italy “He’s found it difficult from the start squad congregated at their Coverciano there, but Conte has selected him. In the training base near Florence. rebuild on and off the pitch coach’s defence, you have to say the strik- “Today he’s here and he has to answer to ers we have are not all top notch.” Whether me. I will judge him by what he does in the LONDON: Almost all the old buildings have firing team, full of players the Argentine did not as expected under Pochettino. “There has been on or off the field, Balotelli has courted next seven to nine days.” Italy sit second in been demolished, diggers are in place and a sign, who have made an uninspiring start to the too many changes at Spurs, Levy must stick with controversy at almost every club he has Group H behind Croatia on goal difference perimeter fence displaying images of Tottenham season. his convictions and show some faith in the new played. Reports from England on Tuesday after winning their three opening quali- Hotspur’s shiny new stadium borders the vast manager. There is no such thing as immediate said Balotelli was seen out partying at a fiers. They host the Croats at Milan’s San open space next to the North Stand at White TABLE TOPPERS success in football. Spurs have to build it.” London nightclub until 4:30a.m. following Siro ground on Sunday.—AFP Hart Lane. But like most things in Tottenham’s After winning their opening two league Right now, that’s on the pitch as well as off it. recent history, it’s not as simple as all that. Some games and topping the table for a week in One key problem is that Tottenham never ade- nondescript light industrial buildings housing a August, Spurs have lost five of their nine league quately replaced three great players who left sheet metalworking company remain and while matches since, culminating in dire displays within a year of each other: Croatian Luka Old haunt, new start they do the start of construction work on a new against Aston Villa last week and Stoke City on Modric, Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart and 58,000-seater stadium remains delayed with the Sunday. They scored two late goals to steal a 2-1 Welshman Gareth Bale, sold for a total of about for Tevez, Argentina High Court deciding early next year what com- win at Villa Park, but there was no escaping a 125 million pounds. Spurs attempted to shore pensation is due to the company who have fourth home loss of the season when they went up the gaping hole left by the departure of Bale refused to leave the site. down 2-1 to Stoke on Sunday, a result that has to Real Madrid for a world record fee of 85 mil- LONDON: Carlos Tevez will end his three-year Ezequiel Garay and Federico Fernandez all The stadium is not the only Spurs construc- left them 12th in the table. lion pounds in August last year by buying seven international exile in the familiar surround- unavailable due to injury, Martino has added tion job that has failed to get off the ground in After the defeat striker , new players, most of whom have flattered to ings of Upton Park when World Cup runners- Sunderland’s Santiago Vergini and uncapped London N17. New manager Mauricio criticized the Spurs fans saying: “It’s kind of hard deceive. up Argentina tackle Croatia in a friendly in Sporting Lisbon defender Jonathan Silva to Pochettino’s ambitious plans to rebuild Spurs as a when you know the first bad ball you make the Argentina midfielder Erik Lamela, London today. Tevez has not played for his squad. Argentina have played three team that can not only challenge for a top four fans are going to boo you. “When you are play- Tottenham’s club record 30 million signing from Argentina since their quarter-final defeat on friendlies since their 1-0 extra-time loss to finish but for the Premier League title have yet to ing in front of your own crowd you want them to AS Roma, has yet to score a Premier League goal penalties by Uruguay on home soil at the Germany in the World Cup final, gaining a 2011 Copa America, when he was the only measure of revenge against Joachim Loew’s produce any tangible signs of getting past the support you. I think it might be better to play while Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, who player to miss a spot-kick. Frozen out by for- side with a 4-2 win in Duesseldorf in foundation stage. Indeed there are growing signs away from home at the moment because at joined for 26 million from Valencia, has scored mer coach Alejandro Sabella, who stood September before losing 2-0 to Brazil in that his foundations are not even in place yet. least we know beforehand we are guaranteed to just twice this season-once in the Europa League down after steering Argentina to second Beijing and crushing Hong Kong 7-0. Croatia But whether Tottenham are in a serious crisis, be booed because they want their home club to and once in the Capital One (League) Cup. place at the World Cup, Tevez has been failed to make it past the group phase in as some in the British media are claiming this win,” he said. “I was on the bench against Stoke According to the annual Deloitte Money List, recalled by Sabella’s successor, Gerardo Brazil, but they have hit the ground running week, is open to doubt. They are certainly in a and... I could see that nobody wanted the ball. Spurs are the 14th richest club in Europe and Martino. in qualifying for Euro 2016, winning their first period of transition-but that is hardly news. Right now, to tell you the truth, I think a lot of their list of domestic and European honors is By happy coincidence, the 30-year-old four games against Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria Spurs have been in transition since trigger-hap- players when they put on the shirt and go out impressive-but it was all achieved a long time stands to make his international return at the and Azerbaijan without conceding a goal. py Daniel Levy became chairman in February on to the pitch are finding it hard in the head.” ago. Spurs have the resources and the history east London home of West Ham United, the They lead Italy on goal difference at the top 2001. Managers George Graham, , behind them plus an ambitious young manager club he rescued from Premier League relega- of Group H and with a meeting against , , , Harry KEY PROBLEMS who is anxious to do well. Pochettino excelled at tion in 2007. Tevez spent only one season at Antonio Conte’s side to follow in Milan on Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood Former striker Garth Crooks, who won the FA Southampton last season and might well be the Upton Park, but he is fondly remembered Sunday, coach Niko Kovac will field a second- have all come and gone with varying degrees of Cup with the club in 1981 and 1982, told Reuters man to rebuild Spurs in the next few years, but there after scoring a winning goal at string team against Argentina. success. Now ex-Southampton manager it was imperative that Tottenham did not panic unless Levy holds his nerve no-one will ever Manchester United on the season’s final day First-team stars such as Real Madrid’s Luka Pochettino is in the manager’s chair with a mis- just because the season had not started as well know.— Reuters that spared West Ham from slipping into the Modric and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic second tier. He subsequently joined have been left behind in Zagbreb, but Kovac Manchester United, winning two league titles says his team will not prove mere cannon fod- and the Champions League, before going on der for Messi and co. — AFP Depression remains despite Enke suicide to enjoy comparable success at Manchester City and his current club, Juventus. However, Sabella’s belief that he and BERLIN: Five years after German international His widow Teresa Enke says the founda- ing from depression in November 2009, in the Lionel Messi could not be successfully accom- Robert Enke’s suicide, his widow says atti- tion’s work is making a difference and public immediate wake of Enke’s suicide, but later modated in the same team meant that tudes towards depression have softened in opinions towards psychological illness has said he regretted going public. Tevez’s international career slipped into lim- Germany, but national football chief Wolfgang changed since her husband’s suicide. “The fears I had, before I went public with bo. The squat, bustling striker with the dis- Niersbach insists little has changed. Enke, “Many things have been achieved (by the my illness, were confirmed,” he told magazine tinctive neck scar demonstrated his ability who was Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper at foundation), such as an advice service. This is Stern two years before his death. with a brace in Juventus’s 7-0 rout of Parma the time, took his own life on November 10, a huge step forward, Robert and I were often “I wouldn’t recommend any professional on Sunday, including a thrilling solo goal that 2009 by throwing himself under a commuter alone and out on a limb,” said Teresa. footballer suffering from depression to go saw him run from inside his own half. But train after a six-year battle with depression. “Depression is something which is spoken public with their illness.” Niersbach says little with Messi having developed a fruitful under- He was just 32 and it later emerged he had about far more openly now and those affect- has altered in terms of attitudes on the ter- standing with Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio kept his illness secret, partly through fear of ed are more able to ask for and receive help races of Germany’s top-flight football, but it is Aguero during Tevez’s long absence, Martino losing custody of the daughter he had adopt- and treatment.” something the DFB are working on. has warned that he may have to wait for ed with his wife. One example is Hanover 96’s reserve goal- “It hasn’t seriously changed anything, we opportunities to add to his 64 caps and 13 Following the tragedy, the Robert Enke keeper Markus Miller who took two months keep coming back to the point where we are international goals. Foundation was established by his former away from playing in 2011 to be treated for still some way from a healthy sporting rivalry,” club Hanover 96, the German Football depression and was given full support by DFB president Niersbach told broadcaster Croatia leave stars behind “It’s a fact that Lionel plays very well with Association (DFB) and the German Football Enke’s former club. ARD. Higuain and Kun (Aguero), and we forget that League (DFL). But the 32-year-old says he has experi- “We live through these things and set a he played with Tevez in a previous time,” said Part of its work involves offering advice enced little sympathy towards his illness. code of conduct, but ultimately there are the former Barcelona coach, whose team face and help to those suffering from mental ill- “Anyone who falls down to the left or right 80,000 spectators in the stadium and every- Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in another ness, especially sportsmen and women. isn’t really currently a concern in our society,” one follows their own interpretation of these friendly game in Manchester next week.”I An exhibition “Robert Enke-our friend and said Miller in an ARD interview. Just five days standards. can’t guarantee he will be in the 11 or on the goalkeeper” opened on Friday in Hanover after Germany won the World Cup this year, “This has always been the case and will bench, but it will happen in some moment of showing off memorabilia from a playing goalkeeper Andreas Biermann, who had always remain so. But fairness must not be a the games that both (Messi and Tevez) can be ROMFORD: Argentina forward Carlos career which also included stints at played for second division sides Union Berlin concept just gathering dust in our society and together on the pitch.” Tevez takes part in a training session in Moenchengladbach, Benfica, Barcelona, and St Pauli, committed suicide at the age of in sport. “It’s something we are committed to With World Cup defenders Marcos Rojo, this file photo. —AFP Fenerbahce and Tenerife. 34. Biermann had announced he was suffer- at the head of the association.”—AFP